Sunday, July 7, 2013

It's All Right, Little Brother... There is More Free Fiction!

More free goodies today, with more to come. A mix of new and "catch up" links.

[Picture for the post title]

Fiction
• At BuzzyMag: "Shadow Transit" by Ferrett Steinmetz. Science Fiction. "Last night’s blizzard had choked the roads, leaving the cabinet factory short-handed for the Friday shift. So Michelle’s boss had called to give her a choice: she could come in for an emergency shift today and keep her job, or she could keep the day off she’d requested to visit her daughter at Shadow Transit"

• At Cast of Wonders: "Patterns (Part 1)" and "Patterns (Part 2)" by Susan Oke. YA Speculative Fiction. "There’s no stopping Mikey in this mood. He grins at me, blue eyes bright in the moonlight, and a surge of excitement snatches at my breath. He always does this to me; it’s one of the things that I love about him. Blake and Hari stride ahead –– the Hulk and Spiderman –– full of restless energy. Mikey grabs my hand and together we run to catch up."

• At HiLoBrow: "The Clockwork Man (16)" by E.V. Odle. Science Fiction. 1923. "Several thousand years from now, advanced humanoids known as the Makers
will implant clockwork devices into our heads. At the cost of a certain
amount of agency, these devices will permit us to move unhindered
through time and space, and to live complacent, well-regulated lives.
However, when one of these devices goes awry, a “clockwork man” appears
accidentally in the 1920s, at a cricket match in a small English
village. Comical yet mind-blowing hijinks ensue"

• At HiLoBrow: "The Moon Men Part One and Part Two" by Edgar Rice Burroughs. "It was early in March, 1969, that I set out from my bleak camp on the
desolate shore some fifty miles southeast of Herschel Island after polar
bear. I had come into the Arctic the year before to enjoy the first
real vacation that I had ever had. The definite close of the Great War,
in April two years before, had left an exhausted world at peace — a
condition that had never before existed and with which we did not know
how to cope."

• At Pseudopod: "Neighbourhood Watch" by Greg Egan. Horror.
"Only those who break the law, says the contract. A list of statutes
is provided, to be precise. Parking offences, breaking the speed limit
and cheating on income tax are not included; decent people are only
human, after all. Breaking and entering is there, though, and stealing,
well, that dates right back to the old stone tablets."

• At Pseudopod: "Immortal L.A." by Eric Czuleger. Horror.
"I went to the bathroom. Before I opened the door I tried to convince
myself to chew a piece of gum instead. Saliva roused in my mouth and
convinced me otherwise. I placed my head on the door with a gentle
thunk, and thought, Am I hungry? Then, no I’m just depressed. I opened
the door to the bathroom. The girl was lying in the bathtub where I left
her."

• At The WiFiles: "Box 3053" by Steve Shilstone. Speculative Fiction. "Harrison Banes prepares to leave for work. He stuffs his lunch into
grocery bags. Shaved and combed, he takes one last look in the mirror.
Uneasy, frightened, this is the night he’s been dreading. He does not
want to face it. Or maybe he does. Six of one, half dozen of the other.
Let’s leave it there."

• At The WiFiles: "Van Helsing Escapes" by James Lewelling. "I couldn’t take it anymore—her “Harker this” and “Harker that.” I had to get out of that place. I didn’t even wait for her to start into it. As soon as she had stepped into the room, I rushed the door. It took her completely off guard. The last thing I saw was the “O” of her open mouth."Flash Fiction
• At Every Day Fiction: "Grounded" by Jonathon Mast. Science Fiction.
• At Quantum Muse: "The Platters" by Harris Tobias. Science Fiction.
At 365 Tomorrows:

Audio Fiction
• At Cast of Wonders: "Patterns (Part 1)" and "Patterns (Part 2)" by Susan Oke. YA Speculative Fiction.
"There’s no stopping Mikey in this mood. He grins at me, blue eyes
bright in the moonlight, and a surge of excitement snatches at my
breath. He always does this to me; it’s one of the things that I love
about him. Blake and Hari stride ahead –– the Hulk and Spiderman –– full
of restless energy. Mikey grabs my hand and together we run to catch
up."

• At Escape Pod: "Saving Alan Idle" by Katherine Mankiller. Science Fiction. "In the beginning, there was darkness. And in the darkness were the words. And the words were, _AI process starting."

• At The Fantastic Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Episode 04 - The People That Time Forgot" "Tom Billings, stranded in Caspak by his own stupidity, is making his way north. On the way, he has found and rescued a beautiful primitive girl, Ajor. Together they have traveled, sheltering in caves at night. However, tonight they have been trapped in their cave by a huge bear who begins tearing through the rock barrier they have erected."

• At Tales to Terrify: "Part One of “The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood. Horror. "After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest, the Danube
enters a region of singular loneliness and desolation, where its waters
spread away on all sides regardless of a main channel, and the country
becomes a swamp for miles upon miles, covered by a vast sea of low
willow-bushes. On the big maps this deserted area is painted in a fluffy
blue, growing fainter in color as it leaves the banks, and across it may be
seen in large straggling letters the word Sumpfe, meaning marshes."